Vehicle for transporting live fish.



4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATENTED MAR. 10, 1.908.

Inventor,

V .P. JfR'ocfiow I VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING LIVE FISH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17,1906.

Winesses;

PATBNTED MAR. 10, 1908.

F. J. ROGHOW.

VEHIGLE FOR TRANSPORTING LIVE FISIL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17,1906; v

v 4 SHBB-TSSHEET 9.

Ruchaw Attorney Fe amnd Wi'hmsses= No. 881,488. PATENTED MAR.- 10, 1908.

F. J-. oonow.

VEHICLE FOR -TRANSPORTIB IG LIVE FISH. APPLIOIATION FILED NOV. 17, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET- 3.

71571295593: Invenlan ,gZ/g f Fepdinaj fina izes v.

PATENTEI) MAR. 10,1908. VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING LIVE FISH.

P. J. ROGHDW.

APPLIOATIDN FILED HOV. 17,.1906.

- 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

messes:

UNrrs sr rns FERDINAND J. nooHOW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TOCENTRAL risn COMPANY, A

' CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 10, 1908.

Application filed November '11, mos. sci-m No. 843,819.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND J. Roonow, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the city ofNew York, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Vehicles for Transporting Live Fish, ,ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to the construction of vehicles forthe transportation by rail, or otherwise, and subsequent preservation atthe market in the same or similar apparatus, of live fish for food,which must be compactly and economically carried in order that theinvention may be commercially ractic ahle. The proper preservation oflive sh under the conditions of transportation, requires, I find, forcedcirculation of the Water, filtration, continuous recharging ofmaintenance of a low temperature. The fish are carried in tanks closelypacked so that the weight or volume of surroundingwater may be as littleas one and one-half to two times the weight or volume of the fish. As

under such conditions the individual fish have no opportunity to seekpositions in the.

compartments allotted to them where the water is in the most suitablecondition, it is a further object of this invention to so""construct theapparatus that the conditions above enumerated will be maintained withsufficient uniformity in all parts of the compartments containing fish.This I accomplish by pumping the water into the tanks and pumping itout, and umping air into the water, all under comp ete control as toquantity, and while the water is in circulation it is subjected tofiltration and cooling so that it is kept clean and at propertemperature. Uniformity of condit1ons throughout the fish compartmentsis maintained by the construction and disposition of the water and airinlets and outlets. Various vital parts of the apparatus which mayrequire from time to time to be inspected and cleaned are in a pluralityof units, so arranged as to be individually detachable withoutinterfering with the continuous operation of the remaining parts.

ence will now be made to the accompanying four sheets of drawings, whichform a part of this application and show one form of em bodiment of theinvention, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway car fittedwith tanks and other apparatus. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of thecar on the line II-II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3'sl10Ws the a paratus with onetank, together with t e proper connections, but with the several I partsso distributed on the sheet as to admit of illustration on alargerscale, the tank and one filter being in section. Fig. 4- shows aperspective view of a tank with the walls and orizontal perforatedpartition plate broken away. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through afilter on the line VV of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section throughthe filter on the line VI.VI of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 shows a ballvalve formaintaining the proper water level in a tank. Fig. 8 is an elevation ofthe head which carries the air and water inlet pipes. Fig. 9 is asection through the head on the. line IXIX of Fig. 8.

vThe car is divided into two rooms or compartments with a communicatingpassageway. The walls of the rooms are made double and'the interspacesfilled with any suitable packing which is non-conducting for heat. Inthe larger of the two rooms are placed ice-bunkers B B, ref'erabl of anopen construction, and tanks '1 T or the reception of the .live fish.The tanks are arranged along either side of the vehicle, leaving anarrow aisle between them. the smaller room are located two filter-tanksF F, a rotary water-pump W, a rotary airfor water and for air, which isillustrated,

and which has proved especially suitable,

is of the rotary ty e with a crescent-shapedchambenpatente to me inUnited States Letters Patent No. 33,961, of December 17, 1861.

Each of the tanks is rectangular and made of galvanized sheet ironriveted to an angleiron frame. A sheet iron frame forms a WP 10 andsolid impurities.

25 outside the car.

50 to pass through and out at the bottom.

with an open center which arrests and turns back any splash along thesides which might be occasioned by uneven movement of the car. Thecenter opening is usually loosely 5 covered in any convenient way toprevent the fish from umping out and to exclude light. The bottom of thetank is made slightly sloping toward a middle line. A drain connectionais the outlet for the water lt leads toward the aisle of the car, whereit terminates in a T- connection with valves 1) and c. on either sideand individual to each tank. Through the valve and. a short length ofrubber hose 5 (1 connection is made to a drain pipe D to which theoutlets of all the tanks are connected. The valve 0 when closed servesto isolate the tank from the system so far as its dis charge ,isconcerned, and the valve b serves as a means [or entirely drawing oilthe water from the tank after it has been isolated by shutting ol'l allother connections. A nipple is provided on the valve so that a hose maybe connected and the water discharged The drain pipe leads into the pnmp, in its course passing upwardly through an enlarged elbow c providedwith an opening f close to the bottom through which much of the largerand heavier solid matter, such as lish scalcs, may be blown out. Thepump throws the water through a pipe E to the top of the car where it isdelivered. through'inlet valves g g at the tops of the lilter tanks. .lneach of these tanks the water lirst throu h a screen ll close to thetop. This catches much oi the solid matter and serves to spread anddistribute the water in its .lurther downward passage through thefiltering medium .1', usually bone 40 charcoal, which lills the middlecompartment of the li hcr ,l. inippcr -shapcd openingicommnnicacs withthis compartment near the top, and a side opening communicat-cs with itnear the bottom. These are closed by rcmovablc plates and serverespectively for lilling and for withdrawing the charcoal from thefilter tank. A line incsh screen I:- supports the charcoal and permitsthe lih'crcd and purilicd water The screen is supported by a.cast-irongrate Z. The water leaves the lilters through outlet valves inm. ()n closing lhc inlet and outlet valves of ither lilter-tank, itmaybe cut out of the system [or cleaning and replenishing n 7?. er eachtank and a flexible connection 0 is made between each valve and avertical pipe 7) in the tank. in this pipe is a ballvalve d whichregulates the How of water so as to maintain the level in the tank atlhc required height and not permit thc inlet llow in any tank to gainover the discharge flow by reason of inequalities in the resistance inthe various valves and branches or from the car standing on track whichis not love]. The vertical pipe connnunicatcs with the upper of twochambers formed in a. head K. at the bottom of the tank.

From the air-pump air is led through a distribnting' pipe L similarlybraiu-hcd and par allel with the distributing, pipe for water in thetank room. From this pipe the air passes through val vcsz] (1 one olwhich is ovcr each tank, and llexible connections 1- cach ol' which isconnected to a 'crlical pipe .9 in the tank and connects with the lowerol' thc two chambers in the head in the tank. lurnllel horizontal waterinlet pipes 1. t and air inlet pipes '11 u. l.2l.(l from the upper andlo\\'cl chambersin the head respectively across l'hc bottom of the tanand 'line pcll'in'alions along these pipes are the inlets through whichwater and air are respectively injcctcd into the tank. it will be seenthat these form a distributed series ol inlets over the major part ofthe bottom ol' the tank and that the air rising past the \vater-inlctsscrvcs to carry up the injcclcd water. For lhc doubhpurpose ofprcwcnlin; the lish l'rom becoming wedged among these pipcs, and also togive the injected air and water a bcltcr oppow tunity to commiugrlcbcl'orc reaching 1 hc lish. a. horizontal perlornlcd partition platc .\ll.- laid over the air and wntcr inlct pipcs. and contacting at itsmargins with the walls ol' the tank divides the tank into twocompartments, the lower comparlmciu containing the watcr and air inletpipcs and thc uppcr compartmcnt containing the lish. ll dcsircd, thisplate ma be given thc l'orm ol' a bas et, as at M big. 2, by which lhclish may be lifted out ol' lllc tank and lranslcrrcd in unloading l'romlhc car to olhcr vchiclc with tanl's or to the market tanks.

in opcration, lhc minglcd watcr and air thorcl orc pass through allparts ol' the hori- Zontal pcrloralcd partition philc, lhc pcrl'oralions ol' \vhich constitulc lhc inlets into ll.e lish compartment.and thc purilicd water riscs thcrel'roiu through ovcr part ol' the ithat it will ell'cctually scrub the atcr ol' all the ice in the bunkersin the tank room nnd 'lll the contact of the cooled air which flows fromthe bunkers with the walls of the tanks and the pi es. The temperatureis further lowered, wien necessary, by adding salt to the ice. As the enine radiates considerable heat, this part 0 the apparatus at least islocated in a separate room.

The valve J is abalanced valve of the type known as a butterfly valve,with a valve disk mounted .within'the water supply pipe and actuated bythe ball-float to automatically adjust the supply when the desired waterlevel .is reached, and preserve the level evenly, and in a manner whichwill be clear from the drawings Accommodations are provided in thevehicle for an attendant,- and the vehicle is entirely self-contained asto allrequirements for the fish, all supplies for a journey of two daysor more being carried.

- What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In a vehicle for conveying live fishTthe combination in a circulatingsystem of a.

tank, means for pumping water out of the tank and for forcing it backinto the tank,-

and means for forcing air into the water on its entrance into the tank,substantially as described.

2. Ina vehicle for conveying live fish, the

combination in a circulating system of a tank, means for withdrawinwater from and returning it to the tank, a ltering chamber through whichthe water is passed, means for refrigerating the water, and means forinjecting air into the water on its entrance into the tank,substantially as described.

3. In a vehicle for conveyin live fish, the

i combination of a. tank, means for circulating water whereby it iswithdrawn from and returned to the tank near the bottom thereof, andmeans for injecting air into the water on its entrance into the tanknear the bottom thereof, substantially as. described.

4. In a vehicle for conveying live fish, the combination in acirculating system of a fish compartment, means for pumping water andmeans for pumping air into the fish compartment, and water inlets andair inlets distributed over the bottom of the fish compartment,substantially as described. 5. The combination in a tank, of aperforated partition plate located near' the bottom and forming in thetank above the plate a compartment for live fish, inlets for waterlocated in the chamber formed below the plate, and an outlet for waterbelow the plate, substantially as described.

6. The combination in a tank; of a perforated artition plate locatednear the bottom wherelly a compartment for live fish is formed in thetank above the late, a series of inlet pipes for water locate inthe-compartment formed below the late, and an outlet forwater below thepl ate, substan-, tially as described.

.7. The combination in a tank, of a perforated partition plate locatednear the bottom whereby a compartment for live fish is formed in thetank above the plate, a series of inlet pipes for water and a series ofinlet pipes for air located in the compartment ormed below the plate,and an outlet for water, substantially as described.

8. The combination in a tank, of a series of spaced inlet pipes forwater located near the bottom, and an outlet for water located directlybeneath the inlet pipe, substantially FERDINAND J. ROCHOW.

Witnesses:

THOMAS EWING, Jr., SA UEL W. BALCII.

